The Places We Go
by TopHatViolet
Summary: In Which Arthur is an outlaw and Alfred is determined to follow him whereever he goes. Focus on how their relatonship evolves. Written for the USUK Secret Santa on LJ.


_It started out as an annoyance,  
Then a convenience and somehow an alliance  
I don't dare think it anything more than that._

Arthur Kirkland, English outlaw, wanted dead or alive. He didn't even bother to keep track of the charges against him anymore. He had decided to live his life on the run and he didn't particularly mind.

The American boy behind him was another matter. Alfred was young, naive and for all Arthur thought, didn't have what it toke to live so uproot. The Englishman had told him so when Alfred had declared that he was going to follow him where ever he went. The only reason Arthur had shrugged him off at the time was because he figured the boy would get bored with his little idea and go home sooner rather than later. Little did he know the amount of stubbornness and shear will power Alfred held.

It had all started when, low on supplies and down in number of ways to amend this, Arthur had robbed a little general store in a small town he was passing through. He had only intended to get what he needed, but the blonde haired blue eyed boy had not listened when Arthur said he didn't want to hurt anyone and took it upon himself to try and save the day. Somehow Arthur had been disarmed and taken down before he knew what had hit him, which had happened to be Alfred's fists. That strength would later come in handy for them both along the way.

The boy was just full of surprises. Arthur was sure that he was going to be turned in; after all there was a bounty on his head and who wouldn't want to make a few quick coins by handing over someone who had just tried to rob you? However, he was brought outside of town and let go. When he asked why, Alfred had replied, "'because I'm a hero."

Arthur raised an already very visible eyebrow. "Your letting a criminal go..."

"You're not a very good criminal...I'm sure you'll find something your better at."

The deadpanned expression Arthur gave could have cut steel. Alfred just grinned from ear to ear, a smile that could power a lighthouse.

Arthur turned to leave with a shake of his head when he realized, patting his side, that his pistol was still not on his person. He looked back to see Alfred swinging it around his finger like an idiot. "I'd be much obliged if you could return what's mine." He ignored the irony about being stolen from when he was the one who had attempted to steal in the first place.

"Guns are useless, they're only good for hurting people and you don't wanna do that, do you?" Alfred said but dropped the object in question and kicked it over to Arthur anyway. The Englishman bent over to pick it up and dusted it off carefully with the edge of his already, much to his dismay, dirty shirt. When he stood back up and bothered to locate the other man he found him much closer than he had previously been. This disturbed him and deciding that it was time to leave he turned on his heels and went to about his way.

It was when he got a good few yards down the road that he was concerned for the footsteps still tracking behind him. His sighed and his shoulders gave a visible shrug before lowering. "Why are you still following me? I'm not going to come back and try to pull that stunt again. I learned better then to go head on fist with you, alright."

At being acknowledged Alfred catches up to stand beside him as they walk. "Nah, I told ya, I'm being a hero."

"Are you to follow me to the next town to turn me in there then?"

"Wha-? No, I figure sense you aren't very good, I'm gonna come along and protect you until you change your ways."

Arthur stopped in the middle of the road and slapped his face into his palms. The nerve of this...this...boy! "What part of 'wanted: dead or alive' don't you understand? If for some bloody reason I did want to go straight I'd be hauled in for execution anyway."

_Alfred insisted on keeping me company anyhow._

During the next few weeks it became clear that Alfred wasn't going anywhere, at least not on his own. He had taken well to the lifestyle of rob and go, even if the boy complained that his conscience was nagging him every time they hit up a bank or had to take a hostage to get away. Arthur usually told the other to "bugger off" at that, but somewhere in the back of his mind he was starting to get afraid of what might happen if the boy did follow such words.

The longer they traveled together, the more they got to know about each other. Arthur found it convenient to keep Alfred with him for the single purpose that if he ever decided to turn tail this far into his little game of hero it could be a huge problem. His knowledge of the Brit's hiding spots and tendencies could be used against Arthur if he ever got into trouble or just wanted to make Arthur's life harder.

Which brings up why they were arguing so much as of late? As the 'hero' Alfred refused to arm himself properly. Sure he had a pistol of his own but it stayed in his belt and had only ever been used as a paperweight on one occasion.

"Alfred for god's sake, you don't use your fists in a gun fight!" Arthur berated as they hid in an alley between a particularly shady salon and a stable. They could hear the hurried footsteps of the sheriff and his men searching the town, they were on limited time.

"Hey I got it under control. After all, I never needed a gun to take you down, if I remember correctly." Alfred would gloat and Arthur would have to grind his teeth together to keep from making further remark. Instead he peeked around the corner and waved for Alfred to follow him as he quickly went around the back of the stables. If they were going to get out of town, they needed horses.

Once inside Arthur made a fuss of readying the creature nearest to him with saddle and whatever else he could attend too quickly. Alfred, despite being told in a harsh whisper to "hurry the bloody hell up." toke his time picking out his horse. He eventually settled on a chestnut brown male in the furthest corner of the stable. Arthur was already mounted on his horse and ready to go, one hand on the reigns and one holding his polished pistol, while Alfred was still securing his saddle.

"Shit, Alfred, quit messing around." Arthur said as his horse whined stamping it's feet impatiently ready to go out for a ride. The noise attracted all kinds of the wrong attention.

"They're on the run!" A voice just outside the flimsy wood walls of the stable was heard and then the sound of rushing footfalls. Arthur let out a stream of loud curses he had been holding back and jerked on the reigns in his hands, making for the door whether Alfred was ready or not.

He was only slightly relieved when he heard a second set of hooves following his own out into the dusty road as he urged his beast to go faster. When he was confident enough, he looked behind him. Sure enough there was Alfred, riding after him in all his carefree glory. It was a marveling site, the boy's hair flung back in the wind, a grin spread over his sun-kissed face as he leaned forward on his saddle catching up to Arthur.

Pulled out of his sudden and ridicules thoughts by the sound of gun fire, Arthur turned in his seat to aim his Pistol behind him at the shooters. His aim wasn't near as good while firing from a saddle but the return fire was enough to keep the rifle wielding lawmen ducking for cover from stray bullets. However, it wasn't enough to deter the sheriff himself, standing his ground, aiming with his rifle right at...

"Alfred!" Arthur yelled as younger man slumped forwards on his horse, the animal veering to the left before a yank on the reigns corrected it. Alfred held his own but he was hit and until they had a chance to stop Arthur couldn't tell where or how badly.

They have retreated down the road and into the woods, off a little unused path and set up camp there for the night. It was a rough place to stay but they had stayed in worse and Arthur was in a hurry.

Alfred practically slide off of his horse and would have crumpled into a pile on the ground if Arthur had not been under him, ready to lay him out on some wrinkled sheets covering the ground. "Sodding idiot" he mumbled as he saw the wound. It wasn't bad but a bullet had took a chunk out of Alfred's right leg. He wouldn't be walking properly for awhile. "This wouldn't have happened if you'd used your gun!"

Alfred just grinned up at him, albeit a bit more forced than usual. "That's not true, it could have still-"

"Shut up!" Arthur cut him off before he could argue further. "You realize at this point if you put yourself in trouble, you put me in trouble too. Think about that next time you think you're feeling lucky enough to dodge a bullet!"

_From then on he made sure to double his efforts of not getting hurt.  
But he still never fired that gun.  
_  
It started as small changes, like Arthur no longer has to tell Alfred what to do. Although on occasion he still has to tell him to pay attention. Alfred doesn't hesitate anymore when he knocks out the man who's trying to sound the alarm during a heist. They find they work quite efficiently together.

The conversations between them got milder as well. Arthur still cursed just as much but, if possible, in a more admirable manner. The arguments became fewer and more teasing than hurtful in intention. If the situation could have been called normal, they might have been friends. However, outlaws never used that word. Arthur preferred to phrase it as a "social agreement". Alfred would laugh and slap him on the back when he said that.

As they ran their way town through town further southward Arthur had no intentions of stopping. He never stayed in one place for long; it had become part of his nature. Therefore, he never noticed much about the town's they stopped at other then where the roads were and where the bank might be. As he watched Alfred though he realized something.

Every time they came to a new place, he would marvel. His face would light up and he'd look at everything he passed. Arthur had a hard time keeping him reigned in when he told him that they had to keep as out of sight as possible. The Brit swears that his friend is a child in a man's body sometimes. The easily excitable and puppy dog-like kind of child.

"Hey Arthur it's nice here." Alfred said as they wondered into a nicer town then they usually came though.

"You know what that means" Arthur said with a smirk on his face, "It's a rich town."

Alfred frowned. "I guess...yeah" He said nothing more until they got where they were staying for the night or however long they would be here. He just stared out the window of their room at the Inn, ogling at the things he saw. Arthur rolled his eyes and slides his bag under the bed, preferring to focus his mind on what he wanted to do in the next few days.

It was as Arthur was sitting down on the edge of the bed that Alfred decided to speak up.

"Do you think...that we could stay here?"

Arthur sputtered and turned to give Alfred incomprehensible stare. "E-Excuse me?"

Alfred winced back at the tone of the other's voice. "I mean, this is a big town, maybe no one would ever notice us here. We could-"

"You're joking right?" That's right, any minute now Alfred would turn around with that silly smile on his face and laugh at him.

All Alfred did was stand there looking like a kicked puppy.

"Are you an imbecile?" It toke all Arthur had not to shout. "We've been over this!"

"But Arthur, we can't go much further south or we're gonna hit the ocean" Alfred whined.

Arthur toke a much needed deep breath and rested his hand on his forehead. He really didn't want to think about this right now. He knew what this was going to lead to and he'd rather put it off then confront it.

"I'll think about it." He said waving his hand and turning away from Alfred. He slumped onto his bed and closed his eyes. He suddenly decided that he needed some sleep.

Behind him Alfred did the same, going over to the remaining free bed in the room with a smile on his face. He laid down on his side, looking over at Arthur, whose back was to him.

Arthur left the topic alone for exactly five days before he decided that they had enough of prancing around town pretending to be anything normal. During that time he entertained Alfred's whims. Although, as they went around town his mind was more occupied with how what he saw could help him during the next robbery, then with whatever the other blonde was pointing out.

Finally though, he had to end it. They had stayed in one place for too long. So on the sixth day he toke his bag out from under the bed where he had placed it and slung it over his shoulder. "Are you ready to go?" he asked Alfred, who had been occupied playing with a cowboy hat he had acquired in the last few days. He said he thought it made him look dashing. A statement that Arthur might have agreed with as he watched Alfred look up at him after being addressed.

Any trail of thought there was quickly replaced as Alfred gave him a disappointed look.

"But I thought you said you'd think about staying." His tone of voice showed that he might have hoped that Arthur would change his mind but knew that he probably wouldn't.

"We've already stayed longer then we should have." Arthur replied, brows furrowing in false irritation.

Alfred looked like he was going to protest again but for once when he opened his mouth, not a word came out. A very dejected mood settled over the room, making it uncomfortable for the both of them. Arthur wanted nothing more than to escape the atmosphere, so he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, the one he tied around his mouth and nose when he went to 'work', and toke a step towards the door.

"Well, come on now." He waited for Alfred to follow him. When he didn't he looked back to see Alfred hadn't moved an inch from where he sat. He was looking out the window again, in the opposite direction from where Arthur was heading out the door.

"You're not going to go straight... are you?"

Arthur froze; he had put it off for as long as he could. After over a year of traveling with Alfred it had finally come up again. Some part of him had hoped that Alfred would forget his silly notion that had started all this and they could be partners in crime and maybe even friends until...well he had never planned that far before. He never stopped, all he knew was that if he kept moving then he would keep his status as a free man. He had explained that to Alfred, who had never pushed the question until now.

"Will you stay then? When I leave?" Arthur asked. It was the only option left in his head. He was going to leave and if Alfred wanted to stay then who was he to stop him. He had made it clear from the beginning that was wasn't going to entertain Alfred's crazy idea's about heroes and turning to the "good side" So it would only be natural that Alfred would leave now that he had made his final decision.

Looking over his shoulder Alfred looked like a kids whose Christmas was taken away. It made Arthur's chest wrench up and he felt almost guilty, but the logical part of him told him that it was none of his fault. It wasn't his fault that Alfred had fooled himself all this time that someone like Arthur would change when the man himself told him he had no intention or interest in doing so.

I_ went out the door and he didn't follow,  
I'd made my decision and he'd made his._

Arthur rode out of town that night and it was the first time in all his life that he felt like he was leaving something behind instead of taking something with him. He had his bag, full of recently acquired bank notes, and his pistol. It was all he had ever needed before and yet it was all hollow feeling. Damn, if it didn't piss him off.

Arthur urged his stolen steed faster into the woods and into the night. He rode longer than he ever had before, simply to put as much space between him and the town he had left as possible. When he finally did stop he had no idea how far he had gone, only that he was tired to the bone. The ground was a welcome feeling under his head as he lay down and tried his best to sleep.

The next morning he awoke feeling no better than he did before. The only difference was that the seconds seemed to drag on. He counted through his loot twice and walked the horse around to get a good idea of his bearings. When he was done with that the sun was barely starting to make its way down the sky.

He made a small fire and sat down, picking at some dried meat that he had in his pack for food. He tried to push Alfred from his mind but the continuous silence was an all too true reminder that his talkative companion was no longer with him. It only served to anger him further. He stood and kicked at the ground with his boots, thinking. What did he normally do when he wanted to take his mind off of things?

It toke him the rest of the day and was well into sunset when he found the next town down the road. This one was smaller but it had what he was looking for. A Saloon. Afterwards he settled himself into a corner alone and downed alcohol until his head lolled against the back of his seat and his eyes closed to keep the room from spinning. Normally he would drink until he passed out quietly and no one bothered a quiet drunk. His plans however seemed to deviate from the usual this time.

He had gone out drinking to get his mind off of a certain blonde haired, blue eyed boy, but it wasn't working quite as well as he would have liked. Instead of forgetting his problem, his mind seemed to zero in on it. Everything else in the bar was swimming and noisy, but with his eyes closed he could picture that face in his mind, giving him that pouting look just like he had before he had walked out. That was when Arthur abandoned his state of 'silent' drunk.

He began wailing quite uncharacteristically, sounds that could almost be called sobs escaped his throat until parts of words could be heard. Parts of words turned into whole words and then complete sentences punctuated with racking chokes and sniffles.

"Stupid Alfred...makes me like your-hic-company then decide I'm not good-hic-enough for you."

From there he repeated the word 'stupid' again and again until it became something less than a word and more of a sound. The noise also attracted the other saloon-goers. Some just gave him glares, others yelled across the room for him to shut up. One lone patron decided to take things into his own hands however.

It was a big guy who waddled over with his drink still in his hands as he confronted Arthur.

"I think you need to pipe down over here, sir" The man said in a mocking manner that clearly dismissed any respectfulness of the words he used. There was a murmur of agreement around the room. Arthur was oblivious to anything not within a two foot radius of him now. He tried to sit up and slumped forwards in his chair. "I'll pipe whatever I want-hic-whenever I want" He didn't care if he wasn't making any sense.

The confronter looked angry for a moment before turning to a curious expression. "Hey..Don't you look familiar...Do I know you?"

"I should think...not" Arthur said. Having never been to this particular town before he was sure anyone here knew him. It was preposterous.

"Wait...I think I seen your picture around." The stranger grin split into a nasty smile."You a wanted man?" The man loomed over Arthur trying to get a better look at him. Arthur just slouched into the table in front of him, not coherent enough to tell the growing threat in the situation.

When he didn't reply the man toke it as a positive to his assumption. "Looks like it's my lucky night." The man grabbed Arthur by the arm and attempted to hoist him up out of his chair. Arthur finally sensing a threat pulled his pistol out of its holster and after some fumbling actually managed to get his fingers around the trigger. That was an accomplishment after the amount of alcohol he had seen that night but aiming at anything was another matter entirely. Abandoning any hand-eye coordination he swung the gun around wildly from person to person. There were gasps and shouts and somewhere off to the right women fainted.

This didn't deter the confronting man however who, with Arthur's weakened motor skills, easily knocked the gun of out Arthur's hand and had to turn on its master in a matter of seconds.

"You arse! That's mine you can't take it." Arthur grumbled snatching for his precious pistol and only managing to stumble forwards catching himself on the back of another chair in his path.

By now the whole saloon was wise to the fact that Arthur was a recognized convict and they weren't about to let him escape. The man who had started it all gave a shout and had Arthur pressed up into the wall with several pistols and other varies guns aimed at him. So of course now was the time that Arthur sobered up a bit. "Ah hell" he muttered barely audible to even those closest to him. This was going to be it. He was either going to get shot to death here, or hauled in to be shot somewhere else. He berated himself for being so careless and stupid in his missing of Alfred, which he still refused to admit that he had in the first place.

In fact he must have missed him so much that he was seeing things. That or he was drunk enough to hallucinate because as he looked out at the crowd of people he saw one pushing towards him that looked just like the stupid boy. The blonde hair, those sky colored eyes, that cowboy hat that looked right at home on his head with that adorable strand of hair that suck out in front. Arthur was just thinking that was a lot of detail for his mind to conjure up when he noticed the look-alike was less pushing the crowd and more accurately punching people out of the way in the rush to reach him.

When the mirage boy reached the front of the crowd he tackled the man who had a gun at Arthur's temple and they rolled to the floor in a tangle of flailing metal and fists.

Suddenly free of the suffocating crowd that had cornered him Arthur could only stare not believing what he was seeing.

"Alfred..." At the name the boy finally looked up at Arthur with that wonderful smile he always had and Arthur found himself weak at the knees. He blamed it on the alcohol, of course. Even if it had only been just over a day sense they had parted ways, Arthur had missed him dammit.

Alfred stood up when he was satisfied that the man he had tackled wasn't going to be up anytime soon. He smiled at Arthur and Arthur looked back at him awkwardly. Then there was that dreaded silence where neither of them knew what to do next.

They were saved from the peculiar reunion by the sound of hoof beats outside. They were really good at attracting the law's attention it seemed. They glanced out the window then back at each other.

"Well..." Alfred started out not sure of where to go with his sentence.

"You can do whatever you like,.. Tell them I've been keeping you hostage. They'll believe you." Arthur's expression turned slightly forlorn as he bent over and pulled his pistol off of the floor where it had fallen. Putting it back in its rightful place, he turned to leave out the back. He made it all of two feet before a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Arthur, I'm coming with you."

"Y-you are?.. But why?" Arthur asked surprised but trying to hide it.

Alfred tilted his head to the side, "Why? I told you before, someone's gotta protect you." This was followed by his usual trademark laugh, although there was a hint of nervousness to it this time.

Arthur scowled and brushed the hand off of his shoulder. " If I remember to quote you correctly you said, 'til you change your ways.' and I thought...I thought last night was enough to show you that will never happen." his speech staggered as he went on collapsing to a halt when he was finished.

Alfred sighed and looked at his boots for a moment. "I know, heh. After all, I came here to find you and look, your just getting yourself into trouble without even being the one to start nothing." He suddenly looks straight at Arthur determined. "But I've decided that..I don't care about that anymore. I'm still gonna be your hero!"

Before Arthur could comment the sound seemed to return to the world and was thunderous as the law men arrived outside of the saloon, pulling the two from their thoughts.

"Well, let's go." Arthur said quietly.

_We left there together._

They rode until they really did hit the coast. Until they could no longer go any further south and found a lonely strip of beach with a meager bit of sand for the waves to lap at. It was a marvel after traveling for so long from town to town, road to dusty road.

Alfred was the first one to jump of his horse and touch the water, boots and all he leaped out into the water knee deep. Arthur toke his time and tied both of the animals up properly before walking down to the shoreline and sitting in the sand. He grinned at Alfred's antics, acting like the forever energetic puppy that Arthur always thought he was.

When Alfred had enough of jumping around in salt water he joined Arthur, sitting beside him looking out at the waves. "I told you we'd hit the coast." He bragged turning to look at the older man. "So you did." was the reply he got. It was quiet and the last few days events had caught up with Arthur; leaving Alfred behind, getting himself nearly caught..The terrible hangover that had decided to kick in just after they had left the saloon. He was tired and drained in every way possible. The site of the water seemed to finally bring all it all crashing in on him.

Alfred found Arthur leaning against his shoulder. "Just let me rest here." was the silent plea to which Alfred happily complied. Despite how much he wanted to talk about how the small beach was so neat and how the sun shined off of the water and many other things, he waited for Arthur to speak instead.

Arthur finally did in what seemed like decades later. " I don't want to admit this but..I missed you." He kept his face buried in Alfred's shoulder.

Alfred laughed and it sent little shocks of pleasant motion through his body and over to Arthur's. It wasn't a mocking laugh but a relieved one. "Well, I'm happy you decided to tell me. I guess I'm a pretty good hero after all."

"But let me ask you something?" Arthur continued and Alfred stopped laughing, looking over at the other man. "If you could wouldn't you want to be someone else's hero. Someone more law abiding ."

Alfred's eyes widened a bit, realizing what Arthur was getting at. He paused in thought for a moment before shaking his head. " I'd do it all over again. Choose you."

Arthur finally looked up. "Me? Someone like me? Someone who had robbed his way clear across the continent."

This caused Alfred to laugh again, a joyous sound, and lean over to touch foreheads with Arthur. "Not someone like you, just you, because if I close my eyes, none of that other stuff really matters."

At this Alfred really did close his eyes and Arthur did too, thinking that maybe if he tried to think of it like Alfred did, then he wouldn't feel so undeserving and selfish for having Alfred there with him. His whole life had been take-take-take but with this strange man who had so suddenly forced himself into his life, Arthur didn't want to take that for granted anymore. His thoughts swirled around this until he felt an ever so light presence on his lips, barely there.

Opening his eyes just in time to see Alfred sitting up straight again, taking off his cowboy hat and shoving at on Arthur's head instead. There it sat awkwardly, slightly too large and tilted.

"Hey Arthur, Where will we go next? Sense we can't go any further south unless we become pirates."

Arthur grinned, "We'll go west."  
_  
It started out as an annoyance,  
then a convenience and somehow a friendship.  
Now I look forward to seeing where we end up_


End file.
